Tourists unaware what NZ has to offer

Most tourists leave New Zealand delighted with their visit, but many are unaware of how much more they could have done while here, research shows.

Tourism New Zealand said its visitor satisfaction research showed 96 per cent of international visitors went home "very or extremely" satisfied and raved about the country as a holiday destination.

But the research showed the more tourists did on their visit, the more satisfied they were, Tourism New Zealand said in its latest publication, Tourism News.

Chief executive George Hickton said many visitors were unaware of the range of activities on offer.

"There is an opportunity to work to increase participation in activities that have a high level of satisfaction, and to increase the level of satisfaction with some of [these] activities," he said.

He said planning was crucial and the more tourists planned their holidays, the more satisfied they were when they left.

An example was the two European tourists in the North Island earlier this month, who expected to see icebergs off the South Island.

The tourists were holidaying in Northland and planned to spend another two or three weeks in the South Island where they wanted to view the icebergs off the Otago coast.

They had read about them in their own country and were disappointed when told the icebergs were seen 700km southeast of the South Island.

- NZPA